History Vietnam

Vietnam Time Line

French pull out of fighting Viet Minh At the Geneva conference, North and South Vietnam split and Laos and Cambodia created from Indochina Geneva conference says elections can be held in South Vietnam USA stop them happening for fear of communist take over

Viet Minh declared independen ce in Vietnam and the French declared Civil war broke out between French and Viet Minh

Kennedy assassinated Johnson takes over Diem overthrown by army but new Govt. just as corrupt 1965 Johnson starts a bombing campaign on North Vietnam 1969 Nixon elected President and begins withdrawal from Vietnam

JFK becomes President

1975 North Vietnamese capture Saigon (Capital of South)

1945

1949 China becomes communist under Mao and backs Viet Minh America backed French and gave them 500 million dollars a year

1954

1955

1960

1961

1965 1962 Kennedy sent military personnel to help fight the Viet Cong in the South 12,000 US soldiers sent over in 1962 1963 1964 Johnson re-elected USS Maddox attacked by Viet Cong

1968

1969 1973

The US help Ngo Dimh Diem anitcommuinst set up in South Vietnam

1975

Viet Cong set up on the South

1968 Tet Offensive My Lai Massacre

1973 Cease fire agreed and USA pull out of Vietnam fighting continues between North and South

Indochina
Whole of South East Asia is covered by a French colony Indochina (except Thailand) In 1945 there is a revolt against the French that carries until 1954 o In 1949 the Viet Minh were backed by China (Mao communist) o The US backed the French with $500million a year as they saw the Viet Minh as a puppet of Mao The Geneva conference that was held in 1954 wanted to sort out the problems of Asia including this conflict

Viet Minh Revolt

1945 Hanoi declared Independent by Ho Chi Minh Minh is the founder of the Indochinese communist party Viet Minh come from a strong anti- Japanese resistance movement and turned communist in the North

Under the Geneva Accord (agreement):

France withdrew North Vietnam became Communist South Vietnam became democratic allowed to hold elections Laos and Cambodia set up as independent states

American Reaction to Geneva Accord The USA stop elections in South Vietnam for fear that the communists will win In 1955 they help Ngo Dinh Diem into power anti-communist

America Becomes More Involved in Vietnam

Why does America become more involved?
Domino Theory The theory that states that once one country becomes communist nearby countries would fall also Containment Policy Meant stopping the advance of communism where it looked like gaining ground The Truman Doctrine was set up for this purpose (long before) o Under the Truman Doctrine America gave financial support to South Vietnam to stop the spread of communism o They helped the corrupt and unpopular Diem to take control in 1955 o Eisenhower and Kennedy gave lots of money to South Vietnam and military advisors (12,000 sent by 1962) American Politics In the 50s and 60s it was a vote winner to be tough on communism e.g. Kennedy in his 1960 campaign talked about getting tough on communism and he won Military Industrial Complex The idea that the powerful groups within the US wanted a war Commanders would get huge budgets form Government The Commanders would spend the money on weapons contracts with huge industrial corporations The military and the industry then both benefit from war financially

Diem Regime
The Diem regime was a government made up of rich Christian landowners very anti - communist They were supported financially and with military by the USA They were corrupt and unpopular and would persecute Buddhist peasants

Viet Cong Creation Ho Chi Minh creates the National Liberation Front (NLF) for South Vietnam in 1960 Americans called them the Viet Cong They fought with Guerrilla Warfare using natural features of the land e.g. tunnels and traps to fight By 1963, most South Vietnam peasant areas were under Viet Cong control Strategic Hamlet Programme Moved peasants from Viet Cong areas to Government controlled areas It was USA approved and backed the stated aim was to give peasants social benefits and money to improve their farms However it often turned peasants into Viet Cong supporters as it moved them from their homes and the work was unpaid because the officials were so corrupt the stated aim was never achieved because of the corruption of the officials that was going to carry it out They often had to build fences against the Viet Cong an enemy that the peasants didnt see as threatening End of Diem In 1963 the USA supported a military coup and Diem was murdered A military government was created they were just as corrupt

America go to War
America become further involved in the war under Johnson he changed the policy and was determined to keep South Vietnam free In August 1964 USS Maddox (a ship) is attacked by North Vietnam torpedoes this allows congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin resolution this allows Lyndon Johnson to take direct retaliation and escalate the war Johnson starts a bombing campaign in February 1965 Operation Rolling Thunder In November 1965 the Viet Cong attacks the US airbases and kills American Johnson then declares war US believed that the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) were too weak to defeat the Viet Cong alone they helped them Johnson increased troop numbers from 23,000 in 1964 to 180,000 in 1965 and then 500,000 in 1967 Americas expectations for the war They thought that their sheer presence of their marines would scare the communists into surrender They expected to be in Vietnam for two years (1963- 1965), with the first units pulling out after 90 days Morale was initially high in the marines as they had good expectations of winning the war quickly Reality of War Johnson had to increase troop numbers in 1965 Commanders of US forces realised this war was a new experience and lots of their policies were trial and error

Tactics for the War

Communist Tactics (Viet Cong)
Geurilla tactics they had used these against the French and Japanese and won also saw them used in China in the revolution and the communists won No military uniforms hard to tell apart from civilians they could escape quickly They used booby traps that were cheap and easy but created a lot of fear amongst American soldiers (11% of all casualties were a result of booby traps) Close quarter fighting hanging on to American Belts this meant that American airpower couldnt be used in fear of hitting their own troops Refused to give in and had high morale they accepted huge losses and kept fighting

The Viet Cong were ruthless and killed peasants who opposed them keeping many on their side out of fear However they helped supportive peasants and gained support of communism The Viet Cong were supplied with rockets from China and Russia The Ho Chi Minh trial ran through Laos and Cambodia jungle the Americans therefore couldnt attack it without escalating the war

American Tactics
High tech war that killed many innocent civilians Strategic Hamlet Programme was part of their war tactics bought loyal Viet Cong supporters to loyal Government areas (however this was a failed tactic as it allowed Viet Cong support into Government controlled areas) Operation Rolling Thunder which were extensive bombing raids to damage supplies and military forces also to destroy the Ho Chi Minh trail supply lines Chemical weapons agent orange (destroyed the jungle where the Viet Cong would hide) and Napalm which would burn the Guerrillas in the jungle and burned their skin through to the bone to reduce the attempts of the Viet Cong to hide in the forests Search and Destroy helicopter raids from bases to seek out and destroy Viet Cong forces destroyed villages also there were foot patrols (however these normally were demoralized soldiers led to unprovoked massacres like the My Lai massacre of 1968)

American Problems
Low Morale and Inexperience Before 1967 most soldiers were professional after 67 most were from a draft Many of the men were very young and had just left school werent trained for war The majority of the troops came from poor and immigrant backgrounds therefore, because of reasons like racism, they were not fully supportive of the US cause The men normally knew little about political issues or what and who they were fighting for Professional officers wanted to gain promotions through kills troops just wanted to stay alive o This led to fragging where troops would kill their officers Drug use was high Lots of desertion and lots of suicide Tackling Morale Soldiers only had to complete one term of service (1 year) This meant that as soon as they got experience they got sent home Vietnams neighbours Neighbouring countries, like Cambodia, were sympathetic to the Viet Cong Offered them refuge, retreat and equipment The USA couldnt attack them for fear of escalation (Ho Chi Minh trail) Hearts and Minds Johnson wanted to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese However tactics of attrition (wearing the Vietnamese down) meant large numbers were killed, including many civilians and so most would support the Viet Cong

My Lai Massacre
March 6th 1968, 350-500 Vietnam civilians killed who were unarmed men, women and children killed Gang rape and mutilations were carried out

 The Battalion that were involved had suffered 28 incidents of mines and booby traps causing many injuries and 5 deaths They were told that My Lai was suspected of harbouring many Viet Congs and they were asked to burn houses and destroy crops The night before they were told that most civilians had left the villages and those that were left were Viet Cong although other people say that the Commander who briefed them also told them to kill everyone is sight, including women, children and animals 70 to 80 villagers were rounded up in the centre of the village and Calley ordered them killed and participated he was in charge of the first platoon and the killing continued for two days 26 soldiers were initially charged however only William Calley was convicted and served 3 and years for killing 22 innocent civilians 3 USA soldiers tried to stop the massacre and were denounced by congressman and the army although later they received wide praise Some soldiers, including Thompson, a helicopter pilot who intervened in the massacre, really pushed for the truth of what happened Seymour Hursh, an independent journalist, broke the My Lai story on November 12th 1969 o Time, Life and Newsweek all covered the story that week o This caused the army to do an extensive investigation of the incident and the cover-up Only 3-4 people were actually reported to be Viet Cong

The Tet Offensive

In 1968 the North Vietnamese attacked the Americans and captured many towns in South Vietnam It was a surprise attack that the Americans did beat back (however it took them a month for the Americans to get the villages back) 45,000 Viet Cong and 14,000 Americans lost their lives in the attack Viet Cong morale was severely damaged as they realised they could not defeat the Americans in direct attack However American Morale was also severely damaged as they realised that the Viet Cong would keep attacking them and they would not surrender

Anti Vietnam Protests

Civil Rights Movement Many African Americans were drafted as they werent at university and could not escape the draft 22% of all casualties were black Americans, even though they were 11% of the force Muhammad Ali refused to accept the draft on grounds that he refused to fight for a country who didnt accept his race o He was stripped of his titles and his passport Students Many didnt agree with the war and didnt want to fight war was a symbol of defeat and moral corruption Thousands avoided the draft

The Role of the Media

Early Stages
The media supported the war on a whole They agreed not to reveal anything that would help the enemy Editors did not want to be accused of undermining the war effort They didnt want to broadcast the horrible scenes for fear that people would skip the channel

Later Stages
T.V. was taking over as the more important source of news so more shockingly raw images of the war were shown o E.g. execution of Viet Cong member and casual violence on the T.V Innovation meant that smaller cameras could be taken closer to the action Brutal images of the Tet offensive and then of the My Lai massacre shocked the American people Walter Cronkite reported that he thought that the war is unwinnable this caused many to turn against the war as he was trusted highly It was claimed that the media had crippled the war Opposition grew because of this and the expense of the war

The End of the War

Opposition grew with media coverage becoming more raw and the immense expense of the war By 1968 the mood had change the question was not how they could win but how they could get out without being defeated In 1968, Johnson ordered the end to the bombing of North Vietnam which caused more problems for the American troops in the South 58,000 American Soldiers died with an average age of 19 Public started to question why America were even in war so far away Presidents claimed that they were defending America from communism however the public were questioning this as Vietnam was 8,000 miles away and no threat to America Expense Johnson spent a great deal on the war He had to suspend the Great society reform Programme to pay for it o Two main goals of the programme were The elimination of poverty The elimination of racial prejudice o The scale and scope of the programme were similar to the New Deal (Roosevelt) Many people were unhappy as they thought the war stopped a great programme that would help the Americans at home

Nixon 1969
Richard Nixon became president in 1969 He started Vietnamisation Nixon also started heavy bombing of North Vietnam and secret bombing of Cambodia He politically and secretly negotiated for a peace agreement Kissinger (Foreign Secretary) met with Le Duc Tho (VC) from 1969 onwards Nixon pursued better relations with China and Russia which was helped by the two countries (China and Russia) falling out in 1969 and almost going to war Vietnamisation Training and funding the ARVN (South Vietnamese army) troops to replace the American troops that he was withdrawing Bombing Nixon bombed North Vietnam heavily and secretly bombed Cambodia (1970) and Laos (1971) This was an attempt to destroy the Ho Chi Minh trail supply lines and force a peace settlement Nixon didnt want to seem weak even though he was withdrawing troops

Peace Agreement Negotiations In 1972, Kissinger worked out a peace agreement with the North Vietnamese But South Vietnam Government refused to sign it they feared abandonment by the Americans o Because this the North Vietnamese walked away from the agreement In 1973 Nixon stepped up the bombing of North Vietnam, forcing them to sign the agreement Nixon also then forced the South to sign it as well In 1973 the Paris agreement was signed and the Americans left Vietnam

The North Vietnamese Offensive (1972)

In 1972 the North Vietnamese launched a major offensive, but were unable to conquer South Vietnam It showed the Americans that the war was unwinnable

Post War
Vietnam
Americans stopped funding the South Vietnamese Government congress stopped it Gerald Ford failed to get backing over Vietnam In 1974, North Vietnam launches another major attack and wins Saigon (the capital of South Vietnam) falls under communist rule (1975) Many South Vietnamese tried to escape the country in the face of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong massacres of civilians who lived under government rule Further wars with China and Cambodia before independence was secure Vietnam was ruined infrastructure was destroyed, farmland from American chemicals was ruined and many people were killed o Vietnam is now one of the poorest countries in the world

America
America had failed to contain communism and in 1973 Nixon abandoned the Truman Doctrine and America never intervened again for another 20 years The domino effect was proved wrong as other areas around Vietnam did not fall to communism Veterans were not treated well shamed 700,000 still suffer psychological effects

Why were the Americans defeated?

The Viet Cong treated the South Vietnamese well and gained their support US bombing killed many civilians and increased the determination of the North Viet Cong guerrilla tactics were skilful and successful o The Americans were unprepared and unused to such warfare North Vietnam had support from Russia and China The American public turned against the war effort Vietnam was a long way from home - difficult and expensive to maintain a war in a country so far from home Morale and experience were low of American soldiers

Why the Americans didnt lose the war?

The US say that they werent really at war but aiding another country in their war Some people say that they did not lose but just left no one left Others say that as Vietnam is now capitalist, then America have won in the long run